The Invisibility Cloak
by Xinia
Summary: Some things just don't mix. Like muggles with magic. What happens when your whole world is turned upside down in an instant.
1. Muggles and Magic

Chapter 1 Muggles and Magic

It was a cold, windy day and everything around Nova seemed to be lacking in colour. Even the wildflowers and weeds, which usually bobbed their brightly coloured heads in the wind, seemed washed out and pale. She had had another depressing day at school where no one seemed to like her. She wore ragged clothes because her mother didn't earn enough money to support five growing children, and her father had died three years ago.

It was not as though she wasn't happy at home. Indeed, she was happiest around her family, because she felt they were the only people who truly appreciated her existence. There were a lot of people in Nova's family that she could look up to. There was Alice, eldest of the family at seventeen. She tried to help out her mother as best she could; taking a job while studying for her exams. She always appeared to be happy, her watery blue eyes never letting on the pain of helping to raise a family at the age of seventeen. Then, there was Murdoch, two years younger than Alice. He too aimed to help out their mother by taking a job, but refused to do anything that he claimed was 'girly stuff'. This meant that the girls would do his laundry, and clean his room and Nova knew he thoroughly enjoyed it.

Then there were Brenna and Adrian. They were twins, which was about the only thing they had in common. Adrian was a sincere boy, who looked out for others, especially his family. Though he had a bad habit of pointing out mistakes that annoyed everybody he was considered wise beyond his age by everyone. Brenna was the opposite. Her main priority was to look out for herself, which made Nova think (more than once) that she may be adopted. She didn't do anything unless she could see there was something in it for her, and she blatantly refused to help their mother.

But most of all, Nova looked up to her mother. She was a hard working woman, and the weather, time and all her working sessions had drained her face of all colour and much of her happiness. She felt proud of herself when people pointed out that she looked much like her mother; thin, brown eyes and jet black hair.

Nova was walking against the wind and was progressing very slowly. It felt to her as though she was pulling an invisible truck all by herself. She suddenly stopped. A soft, silky cloth had just been blown on to her face by the wind. She ripped it off as if it was going to burn through her face. She let out a wail as she saw the cloth wrapped around her hand. Or rather, _didn't_ see the cloth wrapped around her hand. She felt for her right hand with her left hand; it was still there… but not there. Nova didn't seem to understand and began to feel dizzy. She almost lost control of her feet and waved her arms in the air frantically, attempting to regain her balance. Once again the wind raged on and blew the cloth right off Nova's hand. She could see it again. She examined every inch of her hand carefully; from the wrinkles of her knuckles to the lines on her palm. She sighed in relief as she passed the verdict that nothing had ever happened to her hand and that she had just been hallucinating. Moments later, she received another shock.

Up ahead she saw a fallen tree, which looked as if it had been struck by lightning. It looked pretty normal, if you failed to notice the fact that it had a whole trunk missing and that it was eerily cut off at one point. Nova stared at it, wondering what had happened, and walked cautiously up to it. Her eyes darted along the road, noticing that she was alone on the quiet street.

Heart beating wildly, Nova put out her hand to feel where the trunk should have been and drew in a sharp breath. Not only could she could feel the trunk but its texture was not normal. It was smooth and soft, not harsh and dry like tree trunks usually are. Nova gasped in surprise as the light shone in dazzling colours, dancing lightly in the dying breeze. She reached out for the cloth and slipped her hand underneath it. It felt smooth and silky and soft to touch. As she did so, she saw yet again her hand disappear completely. But this time she did not react in her previous manner. A smile began to draw upon her face. "It's just like...just like magic," she cried to herself.

She resumed her walk while staring at the cloth. To passers-by she had only one arm and it seemed to them that she was delighted about it. They shook their heads in pity and in bewilderment. Suddenly it went remarkably black. The sun had been blocked out once again and the clouds growled in anger. They let themselves loose, pelting the people below with buckets of rain. Swiftly, individuals began to pull out umbrellas, run like the wind or hide under trees which isn't such a trendy idea in a storm. Nova, however, pulled the magical cloth above her head as if she had always planned to. Then she ran, forgetting that the cloth turned anything it was placed on invisible as she ran into people and cried hurried apologies. These people were later seen waiting to be seen by a psychiatrist.

Nova rushed under the tin roof of her pergola, which amplified the rain ten times. She whipped off the cloth and crammed it into her bag and waltzed into her house leaving muddy footprints in her trail. Her mother wouldn't be back till late and the boys wouldn't give a second thought to Nova's arrival. The girls would though. Brenna in any case would. Nova and Brenna shared a room together. _No, _Nova remembered, _Brenna usually comes home late anyway._

She rushed into her room, shut door and locked it from the inside. Soaked from head to toe, she took the cloth out of her bag and began examining it carefully. After careful deliberation, she reached the conclusion that it was a cloak. Inside the cloak there was a tag with fading lettering: 'Cecil's Sorcier Vêtement'. And underneath there was a name written in an untidy scrawl: 'J. Potter'.

She placed the cloak carefully about her and examined not being in the mirror. All of a sudden there was a rap on her window, which made her drop the cloak. She stood gaping at the window as an owl tried hard to keep from being blown away by the merciless storm. Nova came to earth after a while and stood on Brenna's bed to open the window. Immediately, she was sprayed by water as the owl flew gratefully inside. Nova had seen owls at the zoo before but they were usually sleeping sound. Never were they flying about, especially in a storm. She wasn't an expert on owls, but she was almost positive owls weren't normally in the habit of delivering letters. The owl dropped its letter on Brenna's bed and flew right back out into the raging storm.

On the envelope, which was suspiciously dry despite the rain, it clearly stated whom the letter was meant for: Nova. It was addressed with the exact room she was in (second smallest bedroom) to her house number (17 Indigo Place, Plymouth). She stood stunned, subconsciously shivering from the cold. With shaking hands, she opened the envelope. What came next blew her away. The letter was written on parchment and the black ink shimmered on the parchment and waited eagerly to be read;

_Miss Nova Jennings,_

_We would like to confirm your discovery of an object that you found today at three-thirty pm on the 21st day of August. _

_We would like to inform you that this is the complete property of Mr. James Potter and we would appreciate it greatly if you stayed within your housing premises while Ministry officials come to collect the cloak. We would also appreciate it if you did not mention this incidence to anybody. This is for your safety as much as ours, as nobody is likely to believe your story and would result in your admission in Intensive Care. _

_The officials will arrive within an hour, please be prepared._

_Regards,_

_Minister of Magic_

_Mage Dias_

Nova couldn't believe what she was reading. She read it over and over again and doubted the information more and more.

"What the…?" she said to herself "What's going on? This can't be real. But the cloak and the address on the front..." At this she held her head in her hands and slumped onto the bed. For a while she sat in silence in this manner, taking it all in and trying to comprehend everything. Then without warning she jumped up, determination blazing in her eyes.

"Well…well they're not getting this back. This is going to change our lives. We can be rich, and they're not taking that away from us." She quickly dried herself and changed into warmer clothes. She unlocked the door quietly and stuck her head out to see if anyone was around. When she got the clearance she needed, she grabbed the cloak and put it on. Though she was invisible, she constantly looked around for any sight of her family. As quietly as possible, she yanked open the front door and stepped into the seething storm. Then she ran. She had written a short note to her mother, but that didn't stop her from feeling guilty and sick in the stomach. Many times she had wanted to turn around and go back home, but the possibilities her family could gain from this cloak pushed her to go on.

For days she ran, stealing food whilst under the cloak and not knowing in which direction she was headed. 'Just a few more days,' she kept muttering to herself, and willed her to go further from her house.

For seven days she had been drenched to the bone in rain, not daring to stop at a place for more than a couple of hours. On the eighth day, she came to a house, lured by the light of the fireplace. As she peered in through the window, she saw a family, sitting in front of the fireplace. Stomach rumbling and disliking the family more by the minute, her last thoughts before blacking out was of her own family.


	2. A Whole New World

Chapter 2 A Whole New World

At first all Nova could see was a blurry mixture of colours moving in front of her face. Thinking it was a dream, Nova reached out with her hand, but just as she was certain her hand would go right through, something grabbed her wrist gently. Nova gasped as the face came into focus.

It was a woman with bright blue eyes and a good-natured face. Her wavy brown hair was tied loosely in knot. She smiled kindly at Nova and placed her hand back on her chest. She got up and turned away, muttering something to herself.

"Wha–?" Nova asked dreamily. The woman turned back and was holding a shiny, smoking goblet to Nova.

For a moment Nova stared at the steaming goblet to the woman holding it. Then, without thinking, she hit at the goblet with the back of her hand and it landed on the ground with a muffled 'thud'. The purple liquid was quickly soaked up by the carpet and left a horrid mark which looked like a bruise.

Suddenly the door flew open and a tall man stepped inside. His dark hair stood at odd ends as if he had run his hand through it many times. His blue eyes stared quizzically at the woman and then at Nova, who sat breathing heavily.

"Dear child, don't be frightened," the woman said to Nova in a soothing voice, but for some reason, Nova wasn't assured.

"I'll get that," the man said suddenly, whisking out what looked like a twig and pointing it at the stain,

"_Evanesco_," he said and the stain dissolved leaving the carpet as good as new. Nova looked on in awe with an open mouth. She looked up slowly to see the two adults whispering fast to one another, oblivious that Nova still sat on the bed. After a while they realised that Nova was trying to listen to their conversation, and immediately stopped talking.

"Lay down, love. You're still weak," the woman said to Nova, pushing her down gently. "I'm glad we found you, or I would hate to think what could have happened to you." The woman smiled warmly at Nova and continued.

"Now, you rest here for a while and after dinner we'll send word to your parents that you're safe. They must be awfully worried." And with another smile, both adults stepped out of the room, shutting the door behind them.

Nova counted to fifty before she tore off the covers and scrambled around for her shoes and jacket. She had no intention of staying till dinner, she thought, as she walked quietly to the door. She stuck her head out and looked around for a moment, before realising that she didn't have the cloak.

"The cloak?" she whispered to herself, "They must've taken it!" She darted around the room, trying to find the cloak but to no avail. In the end, she looked out the door once more to make sure no one was coming, and stepped out.

The dark floorboards under her feet were smooth and slippery. Luckily for her, they were well kept and did not creak unexpectedly. She looked around, and found herself standing on a balcony which enabled her to see the front door of the house and everything that happened directly underneath her. It wasn't a large house, but it made Nova's own house seem petty in comparison.

Nova frowned at her surroundings, not at all enjoying the view. It wouldn't be easy escaping, and the fact that she didn't even know where this place was didn't help her cause. She almost risked being seen by a boy who was standing in front of the front door, talking to somebody. She quickly ducked down and laid herself flat on the floor, wishing the boy to leave quickly. It was fortunate because just at that moment, the boy looked up and raked the balcony with his eyes, resting on a door to Nova's left. He stood that way for a while, his unruly black hair standing on end, his glasses reflecting light so that Nova wasn't sure if he was still looking at the room. But then, the man she had seen before came striding into view, wearing dark blue robes. Nova stared at the clothes, her brain beginning to hurt with confusion. The two soon left and Nova breathed a sigh of relief.

She got up cautiously and looked around once more. Then she headed quietly to the door on her left, certain that the cloak was in here. She peered inside and when she found no surprised occupant, she quickly slipped inside.

It was a messy room with a large window at the end. She noticed the bed was the only portion of the room not littered with clothes or books. She looked around and made her way towards a wooden wardrobe, careful not to disturb anything. She yanked it open and searched every corner of it until she was sure the cloak was not to be found. She shut the doors and looked around once more. Her eyes fell on a large poster next to the bed. It was of a blue sky with tiny black writing down the bottom. Nova rolled her eyes at it and whispered;

"Weirdos." But then, she saw something that made her heart skip a beat. For in the poster, she had just seen a man fly across on a broomstick! Nova shook her head to clear it, thinking she was hallucinating. But now, there were two of them, flying in opposite directions. She stepped up for a closer look and read the tiny black writing.

_Tutshill Tornados: Five times League Cup Winners!_ And below it was a shield, emblazoned with a double 'T'. She stared in awe at the poster as people whisked past her face.

She was brought abruptly back when she heard a loud 'clang' from downstairs. She shook herself awake and looked around once more. Then, moving towards a large trunk that sat at the foot of the bed, she noticed a pale green book. The gold writing was peeling off as she picked it up. The cover read; '_Quidditch Through the Ages by Newt Scamander'_.

"Quidditch?" Nova asked aloud, as she opened the book from the bookmark. Inside it was packed with large sections of writing, divided by moving diagrams and pictures that spoke.

"Wow," Nova whispered breathlessly. This time, she had spent too much time lost in her thoughts and it was just in time that she heard footsteps approaching the room. Snapping the book closed, she hid in the wardrobe and waited for the woman.

It was quiet for a moment and then, Nova heard the woman rush in and felt her looking around. Though, believing that Nova was not in the room, she quickly left and shut the door with a snap.

Quietly, Nova untangled herself from the clothes and stumbled out of the wardrobe. She headed for the trunk once again, and was disappointed when she found it locked. She searched the room hastily for something to pick the lock with and came across the wooden thing that the man had used on the stain. She picked it up with shaking hands and kneeled in front of the trunk. After a few minutes of fruitless tapping, she decided to jam the front of the wand into the lock. Another few minutes later, the trunk had opened with a loud 'bang' and she retrieved the cloak. Knowing that someone would've heard the noise, she quickly draped the cloak over herself and headed for the door. But it was locked. She looked around desperately, trying to find another way out, but only came upon one solution.

She swung her foot onto the other side of the windowsill and shuddered at the sight. She was terrified of heights but knew she had no way of escaping any other way. In a matter of minutes, she was climbing down the drainage pipe, thankful that there was no wind and praying to God to help her get down.

It was an agonizingly slow descent and by the time she had planted her feet firmly on the ground, her hands were red and raw. But without giving it another thought, she raced off into the streets, trying to put as much distance as possible between the house and its residents.

For days she ran, not knowing where she was headed. All she knew was that she had to throw these people off her trail so she could go home without them following. It was night when she realised she would never outrun them.

Hidden beneath the cloak, she looked for a place where she could get some food. Knowing well that no one would give her food for free, she knew she had no choice but to steal.

She walked into a late night corner store and quickly grabbed a few bags of chips. Then, she bolted out, leaving in her wake a blaring alarm and confused shopkeepers. By then, she had already settled herself in an alley way and torn off the cloak to eat. She sat on a trash can, eating her prize and staring blankly at the ground. After a few minutes she noticed a piece of paper she was staring at. She picked it up and her heart began hammering against her chest. It was not just a piece of paper, but the front page of a newspaper. She knew it was no ordinary paper because the pictures on the front were moving. The paper was titled; '_The Daily Prophet' _and underneath the picture of a burning house was the headline, 'Muggle Girl takes Invisibility Cloak'. She couldn't make much of the article because it was wet and the ink had run, but she knew that they were talking about her, for beside the headline was a black and white picture of her! Now, everyone was out looking for her! Hands shaking, she folded the piece of paper and crammed it into her pocket. Then, slipping out onto the dimly lit streets, she ran once more.

When she awoke, the sun was setting and the sky was tinged with orange. She noticed the first star was out and remembered what her mother used to say to her;

"_See that star, Nova? It's the first star of the night. Do you know what that means?"_

"_No. What does it mean, Mama?" asked Nova, staring round-eyed at the bright speck._

"_It means you get a wish! Now, close your eyes and make a wish."_

"_For anything?"_

"_For anything."_

Nova closed her eyes but was rudely interrupted by a chorus of voices drifting from deep within the woods. Hoping to find some food, she quietly followed the voices until she stood in front of a clearing. From behind a tree trunk, she could see a mass of people, standing in a large circle, though there seemed to be some gaps. They were all dressed alike, in black robes and a white mask. And at the centre of the circle stood a tall man also wearing black robes and a white mask.

_No_, Nova thought, _not a mask_.

And indeed, the man's pale face seemed to illuminate the darkness. At his feet, Nova noticed a sobbing person. They were pleading to him about something;

"Please, master! Forgive me! It shall not happen again! Please!" It was a woman, wailing loudly and clutching at the man's robes. He kicked her off in reply and spoke in a cold, harsh voice,

"You have dared to betray the Dark Lord, Vanora. You will be punished." At this, the woman hiccoughed loudly. "But you have been a loyal servant up till now; you will not die a painful death." The woman shrieked once more, scrambling to get to her feet. But before she could take a step, the man shot a jet of green light towards her, and she crumpled to the ground, cold and lifeless.

Nova was shaking uncontrollably and before she could do anything else, she let out a high-pitched scream. Then, everything happened in a blur; masked faces turned to look at her direction; jets of green light skimmed past her; she was running through the woods, stumbling on roots; then through a tunnel; running until everything around her was a blur and then, nothing.


	3. A Whirlwind Ride

**Woah. I've had this finished this for ages, but never got around to uploading the final chapter here. So here it is! Lol! Hope you enjoy it.**

**X.P**

* * *

Chapter 3 A Whirlwind Ride

Nova woke up with fallen leaves stuck to her face. The cloak had fallen off and she shuddered at the possibility of being found while she was asleep. She rubbed her head where she had fallen, trying to remember how she had got here. She heard a girl shriek from a far and it all cam rushing back; the man with the evil face, the woman's body, masked faces and lots of green light. She trembled violently and immediately vomited, unable to control herself.

It took her a while to stop shaking, as she put last night at the back of her head and tried not to think about it. Once again, she heard the girl shriek loudly and quickly got up and hid behind a tree. She looked around her surroundings; it was a clearing at the top of a small hill, surrounded by trees.

She turned her gaze towards the direction of the voices and saw four figures coming from the trees. There were two infants, _probably no older than four_, Nova thought. The little boy with the black hair was chasing after the little girl with a stick. Behind them were two older kids; a boy, who looked only a year older than Nova herself and a girl, who looked to be about thirteen. She was muttering to the boy in a low voice, when he shouted;

"All right, Regulus, knock it off!" Nova jumped in fright, thinking she had been found out, but breathed a sigh of relief when he shouted at the little boy. He turned around and pulled a face at the older boy, and resumed chasing after the girl.

The older two children were nearing Nova's hiding place and she could hear them speaking softly to one another,

"Are you crazy, Sirius?" the older girl was saying, "If you go snitch on our _family friends_, your father will chop of _your_ head and stick it on that wall." She shivered at some inner thought, as she came and leaned on the very tree Nova was hiding behind.

"But what are we going to do, Meda?" Sirius asked, "You and I don't fit here, you know that,"

"Yeah, I know what you're saying, but…" she broke off as the little girl shrieked once more.

"Ew, that's gross, Reggy!" she squealed,

"What's the matter, Bella?" Sirius asked the little girl, who had run up to Andromeda and was clutching at her. Nova saw the boy named Regulus, prodding something on the ground with his stick and laughing cheekily.

"Regulus, what is that?" Sirius asked, walking up to his younger brothers. "That's gross, mate," he said immediately after looking at what Regulus was poking at. "C'mon, let's go get something to eat. Eh – I shouldn't have said that," and grabbing Regulus by his hand, he headed back to the girls.

"Someone's spewed over there," Sirius told Andromeda with a sour look on his face. Nova stifled the giggle that had sparked by the look on Sirius' face. Just then, there was a yell and the four children walked towards it, with Nova trailing at a distance lest they hear her stomach grumbling.

There were two women sitting under a large gazebo on chairs. But what took Nova's fancy was the food which was laid out in front of them on a table. The children had already begun eating and she knew it would hard to steal the food from right under their noses.

Taking great pains not even rustle the leaves around her, she made her way towards the table. When she finally got there, she realised it would not be possible to take the food without revealing herself; she would have to take her hand from under the cloak and they were bound to notice a floating hand.

Unfortunately, she had stood there for too long and Bellatrix and Regulus trod over her feet as they ran off to play. The infants didn't hear Nova's cry of pain, which she stifled quickly, but Sirius had heard. He turned his head in her general direction and looked around suspiciously. Nova knew well that he couldn't see her, but knew he had heard her. Heart hammering, she stumbled away as fast as she could and hid behind a nearby tree. She hadn't realised but she had made enough noise running away for Sirius to follow.

She sat at the base of the trunk, her breath coming short and shallow. And very loud. Before she noticed anything, Sirius had thrown himself at her and pinned her shoulders to the trunk. She thrashed wildly, making a lot of noise. With great difficulty, Andromeda, who was behind Sirius, managed to rip off the cloak.

There sat Nova, bruised, scruffy and very untidy. And though her hair was standing on end, her eyes red from lack of sleep she still managed to stare menacingly at Sirius and even attempted to throw him off her.

"Give – it – back!" she yelled, trying to fight off Sirius. Andromeda took out her wand and pointed it at Nova. She froze immediately, staring wide-eyed at the wand.

"It wasn't yours to take in the first place," said Sirius in a stern voice, straightening up.

"I found it! It's mine!" she yelled once more.

"What are you? Five?" Sirius asked her, his eyes blazing, "It's James' and he's getting it back," He took the cloak from Andromeda and slung it over his arm. Just then, Nova's stomach rumbled once again and she was forced to look away, embarrassed.

"Sirius, get some food or she'll starve to death," Andromeda said, lowering her wand slightly. She watched Sirius go and turned to look at Nova. Her brown eyes were soft and full of pity.

"I need that cloak," Nova murmured.

"And what would you do with it?" Andromeda asked, sitting down in front of her, wand still aimed at Nova's head.

"If you must know – this cloak has the ability to change my life; my family's life," she looked up at Andromeda, who did not reply and continued,

"We're – we're very poor people. My mother works day and night to feed five growing children, put clothes on our back, pay the rent and if there is anything left over, maybe even feed herself," Tears had now sprung in Nova's eyes as she tried furiously to blink them away.

"But it doesn't belong to you. It belongs to James…" Andromeda began, but was cut off by a loud snort. She looked at Nova, her eyebrows raised.

"Have you seen how he lives? He has enough money to buy hundreds of these cloaks!" she paused, eyes blurry once more with tears, "Do you know what it's like, to come home and find your mother crying because she doesn't have the money to look after her children? Do you…" she broke off, and suddenly tackled an unaware Andromeda to the ground; her wand sending off sparks as it flew from her hand.

Nova rushed to pick it up and pointed it at Andromeda who looked startled.

"I'm – I'm sorry, but that cloak can change our lives and I will not let anyone take this opportunity from us!" But apart from looking scared or angry, Andromeda sat propped on her elbows, smiling in an amused fashion. Just then, Sirius walked in with a plate of food with the cloak still draped over his arm. He stared at Nova and then at Andromeda, who was grinning from ear-to-ear. He rolled his eyes at Nova and said;

"You don't have a clue of what you're doing, Muggle," he said, cautiously walking up to her.

"Stay back! I've seen enough to know that this thing can kill," she stabbed it at Sirius and green sparks rolled out of the end. Sirius stopped and looked at Nova, "Just give me that cloak. That's all I want," she said.

Slowly, he held out his hand and Nova snatched the cloak from it. She wrapped it around her shoulders so it looked that her head was floating around in mid-air.

"I'm sorry. I'm not normally like this," Nova said and without a second glance, she pulled the cloak over her head and disappeared completely. But before she could get much further, a voice stopped her.

"Hey! My wand – can I have it back?" It was Andromeda; she was standing up and looking at the last place she had seen Nova's head. Ten feet away, Nova threw the wand back at her feet and raced off into the woods; hungry and full of adrenaline.

Night drew on and the moon rose high into the sky as Nova sat invisible at a bus stop, clutching her stomach. She was lucky there was no one around to hear her groans. She had walked for a whole day and regretted deeply not stealing any food from that boy.

It was well past midnight when she noticed a dim light at the end of the street. Jumping at the chance to find some food, she rushed over to it and found herself in a dimly lit alley way which was blocked half way by a wall. There people lots of people cramming the alley, waiting for something. Suddenly, they all started to move and Nova had to walk carefully so as not to get trodden on or revealed. Following the crowd, she stepped through a door and found herself – outside.

It was a busy market place, lit by the moon's glow and numerous lamps and torches. Nova noticed everyone was wearing dark robes and suspicious looks. It didn't take her long to decide that this was a black market and the chances of finding food would be slim to none. She stepped out of the door, which was remarkably disguised as a tree. Nova would never have guessed it if she hadn't seen people using it.

As she stepped out, she found she was in a shop. A drug store as a matter of fact. Nova looked around and spotted some food. Being careful not to attract attention to herself, she grabbed a bag of chips. Nova should've realised that her luck had long run out as she saw the old shopkeeper stare right at her! She tried to move, but his yellow eyes had her transfixed on the spot with terror. He had almost reached her when a brawl erupted in the market place and people piled onto the shop floor, strangling and hitting each other. Taking the opportunity, Nova bolted out the door and kept running till dawn.

Once again she awoke to find herself looking up at a dark blue sky speckled with tiny stars. Sitting up, she scrambled around for her packet of chips. After she had eaten, she settled down to sleep once more, hungrier than ever. Unfortunately for her, she missed seeing a group of men appearing out of nowhere right where she slept.

Nova opened her eyes slowly and saw her mother's face beaming down on her. Behind her, Mrs. Potter was standing, looking just as happy.

"We're glad you're awake," she said, coming to stand at the foot of her bed.

"You had me so worried. How could you run away like that?" Her mother cried, tears running down her face.

"I'm sorry, but I had no choice. They would've taken the cloak from us – it would've made us rich, Mum. You wouldn't have to work so hard to look after us all," she paused, sitting up and hugging her mother tightly, "I just wanted to help," she said softly

"My dear child – you must work with the hand that is dealt to you – you cannot cheat your way through life. The future might change for us yet. All we need is hope." She smiled and kissed her daughter's forehead. Nodding slowly, she looked up at Mrs. Potter.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken the cloak,"

"It's okay dear. We understand," she replied lightly.

"How did I get back? The last thing I remember was sleeping behind some rock,"

"Stonehenge, dear. That's where you were. It seemed you stole some food from old John Witshire. He's the shopkeeper who found you out. Well, he informed the officials about what had happened and they tracked you down. You were quite lucky – had they not found you in time –" she broke off, looking uneasy. "Well – I suppose it wasn't _all_ bad. Because of you we caught some wanted criminals _and_ a black market," she winked at her, but her smile slowly faded as she told Nova that she would have to forget everything that had happened to her in these past few days.

"It's won't hurt, but I'm afraid we can't allow you to realise our existence." Nova nodded in understanding

A few hours later, when she was well fed and thoroughly clean, three men, all dressed in the same navy blue robes entered their room. One of them, Nova recognised as Mr. Potter. Smiling at Nova, the three placed five spinning crystals in a pentagonal shape, with Nova and her mother in the centre. Then, they took out their wands and Nova closed her eyes, clutching her mother's hand. Through her closed eyelids she could see intense blue light as her head began to spin. She screwed her eyes up harder as she felt every problem dissolve into nothingness. She was calm and at peace, her mind empty of all things. Then, as quickly as it had begun, it stopped.

Nova woke up to see she had slept through most of the day. She didn't know why but her whole body was aching and she smelled exceptionally clean. She had also had an unusual dream. It was a boy, dressed in black robes and a white mask. He was singing "I Will Survive" over and over again.

"It must've been that roast we had last night," Nova muttered to herself as she clambered out of bed.

Nova was spending her holidays as usual; reading battered old books and wandering around the house aimlessly. She would be starting secondary school soon, but she wasn't awfully excited about it. She felt it wouldn't make a difference to how people saw her. Brooding over these thoughts, she didn't realise an owl had flown in until it dropped a heavy letter on to her lap. She looked up to see it fly back out through an open window.

It was addressed to her;

_Miss. N. Jennings_

_The Living Room_

_17 Indigo Place_

_Plymouth_

Hands shaking violently, she turned over the package to find a red wax seal; it was the letter 'H' surrounded by a lion, snake, badger and a raven. She pulled out the first letter. In glittering green ink, it read;

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

* * *

**Thanks to everyone who's reviewed or even read this. This is not my greatest piece of writing, but we've all got to start from somewhere.**

**Have a great day!**

**X.P**


End file.
